open internet

The World Conference on International Telecommunications, a U.N.-sponsored global summit of government officials from 193 countries to draft a new international treaty on telecommunications regulations, began in Dubai, United Arab Emirates today, amidst strong opposition from various NGOs and companies like Google that have raised concerns of transparency surrounding the 12-day long, closed-door conference. More updates to come.

Now, the Internet is getting a cat signal in defense of an open Internet -- and its launch, both virtual and IRL, is planned for the same night as next week's midnight showings of The Dark Knight Rises.

The cat signal is the brainchild of the Internet Defense League, "a network of people and sites who use their massive combined reach to defend the open internet and make it better":

So on Thursday night, as Hollywood's latest superhero movie opens in theaters for a midnight showing, IDL members in select cities can celebrate the launch around powerful spotlights rented for the occasion. The spotlights will beam the IDL's "cat-signal" into the stratosphere, across obliging clouds, or onto neighboring buildings.
Parties like this are being planned in San Francisco, New York, Washington, DC, London and Ulaar Bataar, Mongolia (!) and a few more we haven't decided on yet.